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" So we&amp;#039;re currently in the thick of Ramadan, the month of fasting in which practicing Muslims are prohibited from eating and drinking during daylight hours. Doing a little extrapolation, that means when the 2012 Olympics kick off next July, they will fall smack-dab in the middle of the holy month ... which would seem to suggest that about 3,000 Muslim Olympians will potentially compete without nutrition or hydration. (Note: Because the start of Ramadan moves backwards about 11 days every year, it&amp;#039;s unusual for it to coincide with the Games.) To make matters especially difficult, the host country is England, which, thanks to its northerly latitude, has especially long summer daylight hours. Fasting weight-lifters and archers are probably okay, but fasting triathletes? Tennis players? Swimmers? The Olympic Committee, for its part, has recognized this and formed a working group on the issue, but so far there&amp;#039;s no clear answer. Scheduling endurance events as early in the day as possible would help. And some Muslim athletes may follow the lead of British rower Mo Sbihi, who has decided to defer his fasting obligation to a later date. Anyway, it&amp;#039;s an issue. [NewScientist] "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/food-drink/a10744/ramadan-2012-olympics-6277318/>